Apparatus for broiling meats and the like.



G. GIOVANNA.

APPARATUS FOR BROILING MEATS AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED me, 1908.

902,724.. Patented Nov. 3, 1908.

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WITNESSES as INVENTDR WC gfie zbvanna J Z l f G. GIOVANN A.

APPARATUS FOR BROILING MEATS AND THE LIKE.

APPLIUATI ON FILED JAN. 6, 1908.

' Patented Nov. 3, 1908.

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WI TNESSES 1Q T700115 VS ENT GEORGE GI OVANNA, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

APPARATUS FOR BROILING MEATS AND Tm LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 3, 1908.

Application filed January 6, 1908. Serial No. 409,416.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE GIOVANNA, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, county and Stateof New 1 ork, have invented a certain new and useful Apparatus forBroiling Meats and the Like, of which the followin is a specification.

This lnvention is an a paratus designed for domestic purposes, suo asfor broiling or roasting meats, poultry, or the like, before an openhearth or grate.

The apparatus is especially useful in restaurants, cafs and other publiceating places where it is desirable at times to displa to the view ofthe patrons the operation of roiling or cooking meats; but some of theparts of the invention are useful in an apparatus to be installed in thekitchen, or'other place, which ordinarily is not accessible to theublic.

. My apparatus makes provision or broiling a number of pieces of meat ata single operation, each iece being carried by a rotating s it, and allthe spits being driven, prefera l from a single source of power. Apecuharityof the invention is that any one of the spits can bedisconnected from the driving mechanism, and removed from the apparatus,while the other spits remain in operation, whereby the spit so removedmay be sup lied with the material to be broiled or the roiled materialremoved from said spit.

The invention contemplates, also, a novel construction of the fireplacewhich accommodates the grate or hearth and one or more warming ovens. I

In the accompanyin drawings, I have illustrated one practica embodimentof the invention, but the construction shown therein is-to be understoodas illustrative, only, 2nd not as defining the limits of the inven-Figure 1 is a front elevation of an apparatus for broiling meatsembodying this invention. Fig. 2 1s a horizontal section on the line 2-2of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.Fig. 4 is an elevation looking at that side of the apparatus which isprovided with means for operating the rotary spits. Figs. 5 and 6 areenlarged detail views, partly in section, of parts entering into theconstruction of the apparatus.

' In the embodiment of the invention shown by the accompanying drawin s,the apparatus is provided with a frame, K, of composite construction.This frame comprises suitable upright members, a, a, a and horizontalmembers, a said vertical and horizontal members producing a skeletonizedstructure which is fi led in with suitable tiling, a. The

tiling may consist of blocks or slabs com osed of refractory material,and in some instances it is preferred to use glazed tiling which form anopen fireplace and one or more inclosed ovens.

As shown in the-drawin s, the frame, A, is constructed to produce areplace, B, having a forwardly extending hearth, b, a central oven, 0,one or more side ovens, l), D, and an overhanging hood, E. If desired,however, one or both of the side ovens may be omitted, so that theapparatus may have only a central oven, and, furthermore, the hood, E,may be dispensed with, but these details may be modified as desired bythe skilled constructor.

From the upper part of the fireplace, B, leads a stack or uptake, 1).With this fireplace communicates the chamber of the overanging hood, E,whereby the draft through the fireplace will carry the smoke, fumes andodors from the broiling meat into the stack or uptake. The frame work isprovided in rear of the oven, C, with a descending flue, c, whichcommunicates with the ash pit, 0. Over this flue, c, is arranged agrate, F, which is fitted removably in the fireplace, B, in the rear ofthe hearth, b. The grate, F, is held in place by suitable means, but asshown in Fig. 3, I employ a pivoted dog, f, adapted to enga e with a toeplate, f. The dog is shown as eing ivoted to the grate, F, and the toepiece is xed to the hearth, b, whereby the dog when engaged with the toepiece operates to force the rate against the back wall of the framework.

The ovens, D, D, are arran ed at the respective sides of the frame woror on opposlte sides of the fireplace B, whereby said ovens are adaptedto be heated from the grate in said fireplace. Said ovens are providedwith appropriate doors, (1, and in Fig. 2, the door of the oven, D, isat the back of the structure, while the door of the other oven, D, is atthe frontof said structure, but its arrangement is optional and may bemodified as desired. The oven, C, is below the hearth, b, and extends infront of the grate, F. Said middle oven is provided with a swingingdoor, 6, adapted to drop downwardly in front of the ash pit, c, and thisdoor has a sliding catch,

- adapted to be engaged with a keeper, e the latter being fixed on theframe work.

The hot embers and ashes from the ate accumulate in'the ash pit, c andthe H ue, 0, so that the oven,-C, will be heated from the waste fuel. aI My apparatus employs a plurality of rotat ing spits,'G, which are infront of the grate,

F, said, spits being rotated simultaneously from a common drivingmechanism, whereby the material on the spits is exposed to the heat ofthe grate. Any desired number of spits -1nay beemployed, and they may bearranged in any desired order with relation to the grate, but as shownin the drawings, I employ four of the spits extending horizontallyacross the fireplace, said spits being mounted in substantially the samevertical plane and in front of the grate. Each s it is shown asconsisting of a spindle, g, an a rod, 9. The spindle is considerablylonger than the .rod, and it is pointed at one end. The rod, "g,ispointed at one end and'provided at its other end with an arm,gZ-terminating in a collar, 9 the latter being clamped on the spindle,9, whereby the rod is disposed parallel to the spindle. The free pointedend of the rod is supported by a clamp, 71., which is fitted on thespindle so as to be set at any desired point along its length by abinding screw, h. The clamp extends outwardly from the spindle, and itengages with the rod, g, whereby thearm, g and the clamp, h,/SllPPOI'tthe rod parallel to the spindle and in fixed relation thereto.

The spits are mounted in/bars, H, I, J, so

that they are adapted forrotation on their axes, and an importantfeature of the invention'consists in a construction of the bars 'fittedthe clamping screws or bolts, '8

which permits the spits to be removed individually and withoutdisturbing the remainin spits of the series.

he bar, J, is fastened to the frame work in a vertical position and atone side of the fireplace, B. Said bar, J, is provided with suitbar; I,is thus fastened adjustably -to the bar is fp each 0 which opens throughthe front edge frame at one side of the fireplace, and said rovided witha plurality of slots, 1',

of the bar, substantially as shown in Fig. 5.

The bar, H, is arranged on one side of the frame, A, substantially asshown in Fig. 1,

said bar, H, being parallel to the bars, I, J.

The bar, H, is constructed similarly to the bar, I, and is fastenedadjustably to the i frame, A. Furthermore, the bar, H, is provided withthe slots, k, which open through one edge of the bar, and these slots,is, are in alinement horizontally with the slots, 7', of the bar, I. Itwill be 'seen'that the spindles, g, of the spits, G, may have theirpointed ends inserted into the openings of the bar, J, and said s indlesare adapted to be slipped throug 1 the alined slots, j, k, of the bars,H, I, whereby the spindles of the spits are adaptedto be inserted orwithdrawn easily and quickly.

For the purpose of retaining the spits in the bars, it is preferred toemploy suitable catches, K, see Fi 6'. Said catches are associatedindividua ly with-the s its, and each catch is pivoted as at k to thear, H. The catch is shoulderedto engage with the spindle of the spit,and said catch is adapted to drop by gravity across the slot, Zr, in thebar, whereby the spindle, g, is prevented from lifting accidentally outof its bearings in, the sup orting bars.

. e spindles, g, of the rotary spits are provided with sprocket gears,Z, which are adapted for engagement with an endless chain. This chain isconfined in cooperativerelation to the gears, Z, by a guide bar or guardL, the'latter being shown in Fig. 4 as supported in a fixed osition atone side of the chain, the sproc et wheels Z engaging with the chain onits opposite side. The chain is supported and operated by suitablesprocket wheels, m, m, each carried by a suitable shaft, m The shaft ofthe lower sprocket, m, is mounted in adjustable bearings, 71., providedon one side of the frame, as shown 111 Fig. 4. The shaft of the uppersprocket, m, is. provided with a suitable driving member, such as apulley,'0, but this driving member may be operated by any suitablemeans, such as an electric motor.

By reference to Fig. 4, it will be seen that the driving chain travelsin a vertical path, and that the gears, Z, of the series of spits engagewith one lead of said driving chain. The driving chain is back or justin the rear of the vertical series of sprocketgears, and a each sprocketgear can be Withdrawn from engagement with said driving chain withoutinterfering with either of the gears on the other spits. From thisconstruction, it will be seen that any one spit of the series can bedismounted from the frame, and its gear, Z, disconnected from thedriving chain without interfering with the operation of the remainingspits of the-series, whereby any one or more spits can bedismountedforthe purpose of placing meat thereon, or for removingbroiled meat therefrom, while, at the same time, the remaining spits maybe continued in operation.

The operation is as follows: A fire is built in the grate, F, any.suitable fuel being used 130 driving member shown in Fig. 4 as asprocket in the coarse for the purpose. The heat of the fire iscommunicated to the side ovens, D, D, and the ashes drop through theflue, 0, into the ash pit, c, for the purpose-of heating the middleoven, 0. The spits, or any one or more of them, are dismounted from thesup orting bars, and the material to be broiled paled on said spit. Toaccomplish this, the clamp, h, is removed from the spindle and the rod,the pointed ends of said spindle and rod are thrust into or through thematerial,

and the clamp is replaced for the purpose of supporting the free end ofthe rod. In replacing each spit the pointed end of the s indle is thrustinto an o ening of the 'bar, the s indle is then passed through theslots liars, H, I, the sprocket wheel is engaged with thedriving chainand the latch, K, is dropped into engagement with the s indle and acrossthe slot in .the bar, H. he spit is thus mounted in the frame to be heldby the catch against displacement, and said spit is rotated by the ear,I, which is driven from the chain, L. A l the spits are rotated from-asingle chain, and said spits are in close proximity to the bed ofincandescent fuel contained in the grate, F. The meat impaled on eachspit is resented on all of its sides to the heat of the re, thusinsuring the uniform and thorough cooking of the substances, while thesmoke and odor arisin from the meat is collected by the hood an directedinto the stack or uptake. When the meat on any one s it is cooked, thespit is readily dismounte from the frame, the clamp is withdrawn fromthe spindle and the rod, and the meat then removed from the spit.

My apparatus is simple in construction,

efficient in operation and economical to manufacture. The supportingframe covered by the tiling presents a neat ap earance so that theapparatus ma be use for display purposes. None of t e parts are likelyto be worn when in use except the fireplace, which is directly exposedto the heat, and

- the apparatus is durable in service.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an a paratus of the class described, a pluralit o spits, a drivingelement common to al of said spits and cod erating directly therewithfor rotatin t e same simultaneously, and means w ereby a spit may bedisconnected from the driving means an removed from theapparatus whilere taining the other spit or spits in operative re lation to saiddriving means.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, a plurality of spits, and anendless driving member common to all of said s its and cooperatingdirectly therewith, eac spit being is im-' driving member whi member 006erating wit removable from cooperative relation to said e the otherspits remain in operative engagement therewith.

3. In an apparatus of the class described, a supporting frame, anendless driving member, and a urality of spits mounted removably in saidframe, each s it having a driven driving member and adapte to bedisconnected at will therefrom, said endless driving member being commonto all of the spits and cooperating directlywith the driven membersthereof.

4.. In an apparatus of the class described, a supporting frame, anendless driving chain, a plurality of spits each having a sprocket wheelengaging with said chain, and a fixed uide member in cooperativerelation to that ead of the endless chain with which the sprocket wheelsare engaged, whereby the c ain is precluded from disengagement from saids rocket wheels.

5. 11 an ap aratus of the classdescribed, a sup ortin rame comprisingbars, certain of said barsIiaving slots which open through the edgesthereof, a plurality of s its supported in said bars and removab e bodiytherefrom through the slots therein, means for retaining the spits inthe slotted bars, and an endless driving member cooperating with each ofsaid s its, whereby each s it may be dismounted rom the frame while t eother spits remain in cooperative relation to said driving member.

6. In an apparatus of the class described, a sup orting frame having aplurality of slotte bars, a plurality of spits mounted in said bars andremovable through the slots thereof, each spit having a sprocket gear,

and an endless drivin chain, one lead ofspit against displacement in theslots of said bars.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE GIOVANNA.

